Wayne Rooney should play in midfield for England against Switzerland, according to former Manchester United team-mate Paul Scholes.

Rooney captained his country for the first time in the 1-0 friendly defeat of Norway at Wembley, where he led the line and scored the only goal from the penalty spot in what was an uninspiring performance from Roy Hodgson's team on Wednesday night.

England have Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling available to choose from up front and Scholes thinks that moving Rooney back into midfield could reap dividends in the Euro 2016 qualifier against the Swiss on Monday.

"It is quite obvious to me that we do not have a midfielder with the range of passing to exploit these three attacking players," Scholes said in his column in The Independent.

"It is a radical solution, and one I would propose just for the Switzerland qualifier on Monday, but I would play Wayne Rooney in midfield.

"This is not an argument to say that Wayne is not a top striker. His record says that he is and in an ideal world, I would have two Waynes: one to hit those passes from deep and another to get on the end of them.

"He is the best passer in the team and he can play that role better than anyone."

Scholes thinks the 28-year-old is perfect for a more central role due to his vision.

He added: "One thing you can be sure about Wayne is he is not bothered about taking risks. If he saw the pass was on he would hit it.

"The absence of a specialist midfielder capable of passing the ball with flair concerns me."

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